A benefit of modern society is the elimination of many diseases, and the ongoing prevention of many others, including the common cold. Elaborate measures are taken to minimize the threat posed by pathogens of every sort. However, even with cleaning dispensers distributed widely, the spread of bacteria and viruses continues, even in a modern society, requiring ever more diligence and ingenuity to fight contagions and colds. The instant invention addresses this problem head on with an elegant solution.
One of the more prevalent means of germ transmission is by touch. A given individual comes into contact with pathogens in many ways, and the passage of these pathogens from the hands to the face is common. Thus, efforts to prevent this pathogen transmission mechanism are useful in the prevention of disease. For example, in shopping malls, grocery stores, amusement parks, hospitals, airports, loading/unloading docks and many other areas, one often grabs a shopping cart or service cart by the handle, usually with their bare hands, and then pulling/pushing, rolling the cart along, while picking different items from the shelves and placing them into the cart. Undoubtedly, the cart handle was touched by many shoppers and servicers before your arrival, and will be so touched countless times again after you. Thus, the handle of a cart is frequently touched by the bare hands of many shoppers and servicers every day. It is thus also true that when you touch or contact the handle with your own bare hand or hands, not only you have contaminated your hands with germs, bacteria and viruses left on the handle by previous cart users, but you have also left your own germs, bacteria, fungi and viruses on the handle for the next shopping cart user or cart handler. Everyone is a vector.
Researchers at the University of Arizona were so overwhelmed by this issue of cross contamination of germs, bacteria, fungi, viruses and disease-causing organisms, that they conducted intensive research on cross contamination of disease-causing organisms present on cart handles, particularly shopping carts commonly used in grocery stores. Their research results revealed beyond any doubt that such cart handles were dirtier than public restrooms. Commonly-found contaminants observed on cart handles include blood from meat, fish and chicken products, as well as fecal, urine, felgal excretions from coughs and sneezing from children and human shoppers. Their analysis showed that some of the cart handles tested carried live and virulent germs and bacteria. In Applicant's own analysis, a cart handle, such as a shopping cart handle, becomes quite dirty after the touch of unclean hands, especially after use of urinals and toilets. Even with the prevalence of hand sanitizers, the passage of pathogens is easy.
In the shopping cart scenario, one can easily imagine cross contaminations due to an adult shopper or cart handler having a cold, the flu and/or allergies, and who is coughing and/or sneezing into their hands. Additionally, a child with a runny nose and sticky fingers touching and holding the cart handle can easily be foreseen.
Additional shopping cart contamination situations can easily be imagined, such as where people not washing their hands after using toilets and bathrooms, a package containing meat or chicken not properly wrapped or cleaned leaking or spilling, contaminating the cart, the handles, the floor and your hands trying to fix this problem. Think of the situations of when people flit round testing and eating free samples of eateries from vendors advertising their new brands of food and snacks in stores. People eat such food samples and then put their hands on cart handles without washing their hands, contaminating the handle and then your hands with their germs and infections left behind. In this manner, contaminations of e-coli and salmonella amongst others can easily be transmitted with the cart handle as the vector.
As set forth herein and studied at length, shopping cart handles, as well as other publicly-used handles, are quite dirty and usually infested with germs and bacteria, causing a danger to health. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are prior art inventions about protecting the populace from such infections. Despite the critical health concerns due to contaminates and infections caused by touching the handles of carts, Applicant has not seen any handle covers being used by shoppers to effectively and conveniently cover the cart handles, as well as other service cart handles, such as in hospitals.
Another disadvantage seen by Applicant is that these prior art approaches do not offer convenience in the use of the product, such as not being handy enough to carrying along when going for shopping or using carts in hospitals, airports and other places. Further, most of the prior art approaches that discuss covering have bulky plastic structures and use papers, which require frequent disposal after each and every single use of the handle cover. As is understood, the manufacture of such paper is wasteful and requires cutting numerous trees and processing in factories to produce them. As is known, cutting trees and destroying forests are the major causes of creating unhealthy environments and living conditions congenial for life of human and other organisms. All in all, in these earlier approaches the disposal handle cover papers after each and every single use of carts further adds to the waste accumulation and landfills resulting in further degradation of water, air and environmental resources.
There is, therefore, a present need for an improved approach in preventing pathogens in particular areas from spreading. This need is met in the present invention, which discloses a convenient and effective tool and methodology for minimizing or eliminating the transmission of pathogens in those areas.
Therefore, objectives of the present invention in developing an improved handle cover are at least four fold: simplicity, small size, durability and sanitary.
An object of the present invention is that the device or apparatus so produced is simple to understand, and easy and convenient to use.
Another object of the present invention is that the device or apparatus have a small size and be handy to use. For example, constructed so that anyone can easily carry the device, such as on a keychain, clipped to a waist belt, or stored or placed in a small bag. It should be unobtrusive and even undetectable to others.
A further object of the present invention is that it be durable, being made of durable materials and preferably 100% machine washable in cold and hot water.
Further, another object of the present invention is that it be sanitary. In addition to being made of durable and washable material, the object or device can be washed as many times as needed. The device may also include a sanitizer in order to sanitize inner surfaces of the device even before mounting it on a cart handle.
As a further object of the present invention, Applicant notes that the present invention, in addition to being handy to use and environmentally friendly, have an aesthetic appearance so that anyone can employ their own device for their personal use without fear of undue notice.
Additionally, an object of the present invention is to provide a media for advertising with the display of words or symbols on the unfurled covering sleeve.